Linear puffer

ABSTRACT

The linear puffer includes (a) at least one smoking cylinder having an inlet and outlet side and a flow-through passage between said sides; (b) holder means operatively connected to the inlet side of the smoking cylinder for holding a suction end of a smoking article; (c) a piston located within the flow-through passage of the smoking cylinder; (d) a push bar connected to the outlet side; (e) a linear actuator connected to the push bar; and (f) activating means operatively connected to said linear actuator.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/353,465 filed in the United States Patent Office on Feb. 1, 2002.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Technical Field

[0003] The present invention relates to an automatic smoking machine. More specifically, the present invention relates to an automatic smoking machine that does not require mechanical adjustments to change volume, puff duration or cycle time.

[0004] 2. Background Art

[0005] The tobacco industry has a need to analyze the components contained in the smoke produced from rolled tobacco products, such as cigarettes and cigars. A “smoking machine” is a machine used in test laboratories to acquire and analyze tar, nicotine and other components from said smoke. Generally, these machines have holders containing the rolled tobacco which are attached to a plurality of “smoking mouths.” A majority of the existing smoke machines operate with a cam-operated puffer mechanism. These machines, for the most part, have a set volume and puff duration.

[0006] With a set volume and puff duration, the existing cam-operating smoking machines are extremely one-dimensional. Even the machines with mechanical adjustments may take hours to re-adjust and calibrate. Inertial, mechanical, electrical and magnetic resistance to speed changes result in inherent difficulties in accurately duplicating puff profiles, particularly with respect to rapidly changing portions thereof. In addition, use of some motor-driven systems involves inherent capacity or accuracy limitations in that the number of ports, i.e., the number of cigarettes which can be smoked simultaneously, must be limited or accuracy must be sacrificed.

[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,223 describes a smoking machine using a spindle shaft threaded into a spindle nut. The smoking cylinder piston, which is rigidly attached to the spindle nut, is drawn up the spindle shaft as the spindle shaft rotates, thus creating a vacuum inside the smoking cylinder. This design is limited to a single port smoking machine.

[0008] The present invention provides for a multi-port smoking machine. This enables the user to analyze the components of a plurality of tobacco products. Furthermore, the present invention requires no mechanical adjustment to change volume, puff duration or cycle time. Due to its all linear motion, no re-calibration is required.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

[0009] It is an object of the invention to provide a novel smoking machine.

[0010] It is another object of the invention to provide an automatic smoking machine that does not require mechanical adjustments to change volume, puff duration or cycle time.

[0011] It is yet another object of the invention to provide an automatic smoking machine that utilizes a single linear actuator to operate multi-ports.

[0012] It is still another object of the invention to provide a customizable automatic smoking machine.

[0013] According to the invention, these and other objects are achieved in that the smoking machine utilizes a linear actuator to control the suction mechanism. The linear actuator enables the volume, puff duration, and/or cycle time to be easily adjusted.

[0014] In one embodiment, the machine comprises: (a) at least one smoking cylinder having an inlet and outlet side and a flow-through passage between said sides; (b) holder means operatively connected to the inlet side of the smoking cylinder for holding a suction end of a smoking article; (c) a piston located within the flow-through passage of the smoking cylinder; (d) a push bar connected to the outlet side; (e) a linear actuator connected to the push bar; and (f) activating means operatively connected to said linear actuator.

[0015] Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taking in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016]FIG. 1 is a schematic of the linear puffer device.

[0017]FIG. 2 is a schematic of the activated linear actuator.

[0018]FIG. 3 is a schematic of the linear actuator (exhaust mode).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0019] Referring to the drawings, more particularly, FIG. 1, the smoking machine includes (a) at least one smoking cylinder 10 having an inlet side 20 and outlet side 30 and a flow-through passage between said sides; (b) holder means 70 operatively connected to the inlet side 20 of the smoking cylinder 10 for holding a suction end of a smoking article; (c) a piston 40 located within the flow-through passage of the smoking cylinder 10; (d) a push bar 50 connected to the outlet side 30; (e) a linear actuator 60 connected to the push bar 50; and (f) activating means operatively connected to said linear actuator 60.

[0020] The activating means include a linear actuator controller operatively connected to said linear actuator and a programmable logic controller (PLC) 80 operatively connected to said linear actuator controller. The PLC 80 may be controlled by a programming terminal running software designed to operate the device.

[0021] In a preferred embodiment, the linear actuator 60 is mounted to a push bar 50. One (or several) smoking cylinders 10 are also mounted to the push bar 50. Said smoking cylinders 10 contain pistons 40. As shown in FIG. 2, when the linear actuator 60 is activated, the piston 40 is drawn, pulling smoke from the smoking articles through a test pad and into the smoking cylinder. As shown in FIG. 3, when the linear actuator 60 is activated in the opposite direction, the smoke is exhausted from the cylinder 10.

[0022] In one embodiment, the smoking cylinder 10 and piston 40 are a syringe. The syringe may either be directly connected to the tobacco holder or operatively connected by conventional means. In one embodiment, the syringe is connected to the tobacco holder via plastic tubing. The holder means 70 may be any tobacco holder known in the art.

[0023] Using the programming terminal and the software designed to operate the device, the user may enter multiple test variables such as volume, puff duration and cycle time into the PLC 80. In a preferred embodiment, when the test is ready to be performed, the user may initiate the test via a button on the programming terminal. When the test is initiated, the PLC 80 performs its' logic based on the test variables entered and communicates to the linear actuator controller its' parameters of operation. The linear actuator controller, in turn, accurately manipulates the linear actuator 60.

[0024] In a preferred embodiment, the present invention uses a sinusoidal synchronous linear actuator 60. This provides for a single linear actuator 60 to stroke as many cylinders 10 as the user would like to have installed on its machine. The reciprocating action, creating the vacuum and exhaust, by the present invention is created by the shaft of the linear actuator moving in and out of the motor housing.

[0025] From the foregoing description, it may be seen that a device formed in accordance with the present invention incorporates many novel features over and offers significant advantages over those currently available. While the presently preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, various changes can be made without exceeding the scope of the invention. 

We claim:
 1. A device for smoking at least one smoking article to be analyzed comprising: (a) a smoking cylinder having an inlet and outlet side and a flow-through passage in-between said sides; (b) holder means operatively connected to the inlet side of the smoking cylinder for holding a suction end of said smoking article; (c) a piston located within the flow-through passage of the smoking cylinder; (d) a push bar connected to the outlet side of said smoking cylinder; (e) a linear actuator connected to the push bar; (f) activating means operatively connected to said linear actuator.
 2. The device of claim 1 wherein said activating means is a linear actuator controller.
 3. The device of claim 1 further comprising: (g) processing means operatively connected to said activating means.
 4. The device of claim 3 wherein said processing means is a programmable logic controller.
 5. The device of claim 3 wherein said processing means further comprises: a programming terminal.
 6. The device of claim 4 wherein said actuator controls test variables.
 7. The device of claim 6 wherein said test variables are selected from the group consisting of volume, puff duration and cycle time.
 8. The device of claim 1 wherein said smoking cylinder and piston are a syringe.
 9. The device of claim 1 wherein said linear actuator is a sinusoidal synchronous linear actuator. 